Luton & Dunstable Hospital payout for grieving family

Stewart Carr

A grieving son received a clinical negligence settlement from Luton & Dunstable Hospital after claims they failed to adequately care for his 92-year-old mother.

Barry Holland, 65, took legal action against the hospital after his mum was permanently paralysed during her stay there.

Barry said: “The way my mother was treated was terrible and it should never have happened.

“She didn’t deserve to be treated like that and I hope it never happens to anyone else.”

Barry’s mum, Joan Holland, had spent six weeks in hospital after being admitted in October 2011 with an infection.

Within just two days, Joan suffered a catastrophic spinal injury after falling from a commode, leaving her permanently paralysed.

She then endured five days of agony as nurses attempted to get her to walk, before the spinal injury was detected by an MRI scan.

Mrs Holland was later moved to a care home on December 12, 2011, where she developed horrific bedsores and a fractured upper arm after falling from her bed. She later moved to another care home, where she died on April 21 2012.

Her son added: “I just wanted someone at the hospital to hold their hands up and say sorry, but that hasn’t happened.

“It’s just so wrong and my wife Denise and I feel very angry and let down by the hospital.”

Joan Holland had lived at St George’s Court sheltered accommodation in Leighton Buzzard for 12 months before going to hospital. She was a munitions factory worker during the Second World War and later worked at well-known ERG components factory in Dunstable.